


all that glitters

by stellaisnotamermaid



Category: The Bane Chronicles - Sarah Rees Brennan & Cassandra Clare & Maureen Johnson, The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: AUTHOR AU, Internet Friends, M/M, Trolling, Youtuber AU, slowburn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-16
Updated: 2019-05-16
Packaged: 2020-03-06 08:14:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18847114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellaisnotamermaid/pseuds/stellaisnotamermaid
Summary: "Well that was uneventful." Magnus sighed, taking a sip of his cocktail. "Kiss?""What?" Alec replied, flustered. Magnus help up his hand, which had a Hershey's Kiss in it. Of course he'd meant the candy, what else would he have meant? "Oh, yeah, sure. Who did you want to tell next?"A.K.A.: Alec and Magnus try to troll their fans, but end up trolling each other... and falling in love.





	all that glitters

**Author's Note:**

> wow this is rly long and took me ages. if you want me to add on + make this a series please comment ideas for stuff in this au. enjoy!!!

When Alec's best friend had DM'd him, he'd almost fallen out of his bed from laughing too hard.

 

**@makeitrainglitter**

**did you hear that @aglightwood is releasing his new book tomorrow???**

**Yeah, haha.**

**Are you excited?**

**'am I excited?'**

**YES**

**he's been hinting towards the release for months and he's my favorite author.**

**of COURSE I'm excited.**

**are you planning on reading it?**

**Yeah.**

 

A huge smile broke out across Alec's face upon seeing his best friend, Magnus', excitement. That was the reason he'd decided to publish a fifth book.

 

The first book was just him struggling to express himself in a stifling environment. Izzy had found it and begged him to get it published. He finally relented, and she practically shoved it at her boyfriend, who was an intern for a publisher.

 

After two months of editing, it had finally been published.

 

He'd been on the New York Times Bestseller List for three consecutive months. Once he'd finished the second book, his audience skyrocketed.

 

He'd made a public account on both Instagram and Twitter, both of which had gotten verified within two short weeks at around 20k followers each. He now had 2 million followers on Instagram, and 1.5 million on his basically inactive Twitter.

 

After seeing how happy his books made people, he'd decided to make a third Instagram account (his personal, his public, and a fan account). He was just planning on talking to his fans in impersonation of one of them, but he'd made several friends within the first week.

 

He'd had quiz-offs with people as to who knew different stuff about him, joined a ton of group chats, posted "rare" photos, made theories and memes, and asked people their favorite parts of his books.

 

It was only supposed to last a few days.

 

It was supposed to be a short term thing.

 

Then, he had to go and ruin the whole thing by falling in love.

 

×××

 

Magnus' YouTube channel was a hot mess—his posting schedule was consistent, but the content of his videos varied wildly.

 

Sometimes he did makeup—challenges, tutorials, 'get ready with me's—sometimes he played games with his friends—truth or dare, typically asked by his followers on Twitter, board games, pranks—and sometimes he just did random vlogs.

 

He'd posted his first video just over a year ago. He'd already had 30k followers on Instagram under the username @rainingglitter at that point, so he kept it for his YouTube channel.

 

The YouTube community had accepted him immediately, and he quickly rose to four million subscribers.

 

Then, he came up with a great idea—he didn't have time to reply to all of the DMs that he got, but if he made a secret fan account, he could interact with his subscribers. It would make a great video, too.

 

He made a new email, opened instagram, and created a new account called @makeitrainglitter. He followed his main account, his friends' accounts, and several random people that had commented on his recent.

 

He'd followed all of the fan accounts that those people followed—and a few AGL fan accounts because hey, he was weak and didn't really have the opportunity to do that on his main. A lot of their audience overlapped, and he wouldn't get to befriend people if they were in a constant state of shock.

 

He DM'd all of the people that he'd followed asking if they could be friends, and waited.

 

×××

 

The first day that Alec had logged into his account, he had gained 40 followers. He'd decided to make a ton of random posts ahead of time so that if he ran out of ideas he'd have a backup post—something about consistency creating more interaction with people? He wasn't quite sure, but decided better safe than sorry.

 

His username was @lightwoodtheories, and he mostly posted random things about who he "thought" that A. G. Lightwood was. His first post assumed that AGL was actually Donald Trump in disguise. The idea of that was so preposterous that he figured that everybody would automatically assume his account was crack—and most people did; he'd gotten over 200 likes on his first post—but some people attacked him for being so idiotic.

 

He was almost tempted to quit the internet right then and there, but decided to persevere. Sure, there were a couple people who were rude, or people who had difficulty comprehending others' behaviour and thought _he_ was being rude, but it would be worth it in the end.

 

Following his 500 follower checkpoint—which, granted, took him only a month and a half—he decided to make a YouTube channel. He posted videos that were five seconds long on there, making it difficult to tell who had uploaded them past the channel name—lightwood.

 

(He was slowly uploading videos of him trolling people to his YouTube channel on the private setting. He'd blocked out his username when editing just in case he decided he wanted to keep this account later on. Once he'd revealed his identity to everybody that he spoke to on that account, he'd reveal that, yes, it actually _was_ his channel.)

 

Following the creation of his channel, he made conspiracies about whether it was _actually_ AGL who had uploaded them, pointing out things like "There's a black tattoo on this person's neck… I think that's his neck, at least", "They have black hair… unless it's a wig. Is anybody here an expert on hair?", and "The wall is blue, just like the cover of AGL's third book… actually, that might be purple".

 

It was around this time that he discovered an account called @makeitrainglitter.

 

×××

 

**@makeitrainglitter replied to your story**

 

**@makeitrainglitter**

**where on earth are you getting all of these photos I'm screaming he's so tiny**

**I found his old MySpace page.**

**you did?!**

**spill!!**

 

Alec sucked in a quick breath and bit his lip. He didn't want _anybody_ finding his old MySpace page—especially a stranger—but that was the only thing he could say to make the fact that he found the photos seem plausible. He posted photos of himself on @aglightwood, but the photos were all normally _decent_ and not as… cringey as his childhood photos were.

 

**@makeitrainglitter**

**;-)**

**noooo please tell me ;;;(**

**;-)**

**p l e a s e**

**;-)**

**okay well at least give me your name so i can scold you for holding out properly**

 

Alec hesitated, then typed his name. It wasn't like anybody could trace him back to being AGL from his first name—there was a reason that he'd just published his books under A. G. Lightwood—and even then, he could block it out of the video.

 

**@makeitrainglitter**

**is that short for anything?**

**Yes; Alexander.**

 

He was about to add, "But only my parents call me that", when he got a reply.

 

**@makeitrainglitter**

**okay, alexander.**

**now, how do you feel about refusing to tell me his myspace?**

**Pretty good, actually.**

**Also: what's your name?**

**magnus ;)**

 

For some reason, it didn't bother him when Magnus called him Alexander.

 

×××

 

Magnus was particularly fond of this one account, @lightwoodtheories. His username could be a lot more creative, but Alexander was extremely nice, and it wasn't like Magnus' username was all that creative. It was just a quote from his outro.

 

Magnus was scrolling through his feed when he saw something that made him stop and immediately send it to Alexander. One of the accounts that he followed had posted a drawing of him based off of a MerMay look he'd created for his recent video. Except she'd drawn him as an _actual merman._

 

**@lightwoodtheories**

**i have a theory for you**

**@maiaroberts is a literal angel**

**look at this thing she just drew**

**"just a sketch" she says**

**Oh my God, that's so good!!**

**Every single thing she draws gives me life.**

**ikr???**

**i knew she was a fan of agl**

**but not rg**

**and like dangg**

**this is incredible**

**On a semi-related note, have you seen the cover art for AGL's new book?**

**no???**

**show me!!**

 

Alexander sent him an post by @cfairchild and Magnus almost dropped his phone. His _neighbor_ had created the cover for AGL's next book and hadn't told him? She _knew_ that he adored AGL, and, yeah, he probably should have looked at the feed on his other account, but she _hadn't told him._

 

**@lightwoodtheories**

**i,,, have another theory**

**clary fairchild is a fiend who doesn't care about her friends**

**i literally see her every day**

**and she didn't tell me**

**worst. neighbor. ever.**

**Wait—you know her?**

**That's so cool!**

**not when she DOESN'T TELL ME THAT SHE DESIGNED THE COVER ART FOR MY FAVORITE AUTHOR'S NOVELS.**

 

Magnus set his phone down and walked to the apartment next to his. "Biscuit?" He asked, knocking on the door. "Are you home?"

 

He heard the locks on the door clicking, then saw the face of Clary Fairchild. "Magnus, what is it? It's like 11pm."

 

Her red hair was a frizzy mess and her pajamas were covered in coffee stains. The rings around her eyes from sleep deprivation were almost indigo. Magnus almost felt bad for barging over.

 

"You drew the cover art for AGL's new book? Why didn't you tell me?"

 

"I guess I forgot that you liked him so much. Speaking of, he said that you were the reason he chose me."

 

"What?" Magnus' voice cracked. How on Earth had _he_ influenced what the book cover was going to look like?

 

"Yeah, he said that he saw my art that one time you posted it on your story, so he followed me, and then when he got the chance to choose the artist for his next book, he emailed me."

 

Once she realized that Magnus was in too much of a state of shock to reply, she closed the door with a "Good night".

 

×××

 

**@makeitrainglitter**

**uh**

**clary just said that rg is the reason that agl chose her as the artist?**

**she said that he saw her art on his story???**

**… And?**

**I didn't realize that he followed him back???**

**… Back?**

**...you didn't know that rg follows agl?**

**No?**

 

Alec quickly swapped to his main account and opened his DMs with his sister.

 

**@izzylightwood**

**Hey!**

**Um, I know that it's late and all, but I'm having an existential crisis.**

**what's up?**

**I just found out that RG follows me on Instagram.**

**wait you just figured that out?**

**like just now?**

**Yeah.**

**My friend Magnus was talking to me about it.**

**He said that he's Clary's neighbor and he went to talk to her about it and she said that RG was the reason why I had her do the art (which is true) and he was freaking out and said "I didn't realize that he followed him back?", so I started freaking out.**

**this is hilarious.**

**No, it's not.**

**Please help me.**

**nah**

 

×××

 

**@cfairchild**

**alec is freaking out over the fact that rg follows him back**

**wait what happened**

**idk, he said that his internet friend told him like five seconds ago?**

**your neighbor or smth**

**wait**

**wait**

**did he say his name**

**yeah, it's magnus**

**oh my god**

**izzy**

**magnus is rg**

**WAIT RLY**

**THAT'S HILARIOUS**

**I KNEW THAT ALEC WAS TRYING TO TROLL SOME OF HIS FANS BY GOING 'UNDERCOVER' BUT—**

**THIS IS GREAT**

**i wonder how long itll take them to find out**

**lol me too**

 

×××

 

**@lightwoodtheories**

**Hey, Magnus, I have an idea.**

**What if we quizzed each other on RG/AGL? Like, I ask you questions about AGL and you ask me questions about RG.**

**that sounds fun!**

**do you want to go first?**

 

Magnus immediately knew that he was going to win—he followed every update that AGL ever created, and he had an upper hand when asking Alexander questions.

 

**@lightwoodtheories**

**Sure.**

**What was the date that he decided to publish his first book?**

**wait how am i supposed to know that**

**he's literally never said it**

**Okay, fine.**

**How old was he?**

**17?**

**Incorrect.**

**wait what???**

**but it was published when he was 18**

**He didn't decide to get it published.**

**wdym???**

**His sister forced him to get it published.**

**when did he say that???**

**;-)**

**…does he still post on his myspace???**

**;-)**

**ugh okay fine**

**what is rg's cat's name?**

**Chairman.**

**I'm trying to decide whether to accept that or not**

**bc technically it's Chairman Meow.**

**Half point?**

**fine.**

 

Magnus didn't win.

 

They did random things with each other like this for months, and Magnus was worried that he'd have to create a whole new channel for all of the content that he'd made around his undercover account.

 

He was also worried about how close he'd gotten to some of the people, especially Alexander.

 

He was worried that once he revealed his identity they wouldn't be his friends anymore—they'd still talk to him, sure, but they might look at him differently and see him as RainingGlitter instead of their friend.

 

×××

 

Alec paced his apartment anxiously while waiting for Simon to reply to him. He'd said that his boss—who was Alec's publisher—was finishing up the last details of the process to publish _War of Hearts_.

 

His first book had been full of metaphors—he'd been too terrified that his parents would find it, but he'd still needed a way to express how suffocated he'd felt, how living with his parents was strangling him.

 

This book was raw—it wasn't about him, but it was about all of the people who had to live like he had, all of the people that had gone through _worse._ It was about all of the people who were struggling to find themselves. It was about hope, and how to fight for yourself.

 

He knew that Simon's boss would be okay with it, so he wouldn't have to find a new publisher, which had been one of the things he'd been anxious about at the beginning. He was still worried, this far into the process, that the book he'd spent a year and a half on and poured his heart into would be rejected.

 

**Simon Lewis**

**It's being finalized!!!**

**He just sent it to the printer!!!**

**Oh my God.**

**I can't believe this is happening!**

**Me neither!!!**

**I'm so proud of you, dude!!!**

 

×××

 

**@makeitrainglitter**

**alexander!!!**

**i'm in line at this book store downtown and it's CROWDED.**

**they haven't technically opened yet, so we can't buy anything for another 20 minutes**

**BUT**

**the shelves are basically empty**

**agl has barely released any info on this book and it's already this popular**

**oh my god i can't wait to read it**

**I can't believe this many people want it.**

**says the agl fan account**

**True.**

**That's crazy, though.**

**Let me know when you finish reading it!**

**wait—have you read it yet??**

**I preordered it.**

**Planning on reading it today.**

**that's,,, really smart,,,**

**On an unrelated note, what do you think @rainingglitter's next video is going to be?**

**i'm not sure!!**

**he said that it was going to be big.**

**i can't wait!!**

**Me neither!**

 

Roughly 8 hours later, Alec's Instagram started to blow up with notifications. Somehow, people had already drawn a ton of fanart. He liked every single piece that he saw, then looked at the stories that tagged him.

 

**OH MY GOD I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT @AGLIGHTWOOD HAS QUEER REP AND IT LITERALLY STARTS IN THE DEDICATION**

(the text was on top of a photo, which had the dedication: _To all of my loving fans, especially those who are rejected due to their sexuality or gender, or how they present themselves._ )

 

**I JUST READ @AGLIGHTWOOD 'S NEW BOOK AND IT'S INCREDIBLE PLEASE GO READ IT RIGHT NOW**

 

(that story was actually @maiaroberts', and he'd just liked a piece that she'd drawn of the scene that was his favorite to write. Her next story was her being excited that he'd liked her post).

 

He went to his story and made a new one thanking everybody who had bought the book, especially those who had drawn something.

 

There were a couple stories that had been angry about the representation in his new novel, but he paid it no mind. The loss of a couple fans who were immoral was nothing.

 

×××

 

**@makeitrainglitter**

**holy crap**

**alec**

**i think i might be in love**

 

(Alec's stomach filled with butterflies at the words, even though they weren't directed at the him that Magnus knew).

 

**@makeitrainglitter**

**this book is incredible**

**have you finished it yet??**

**Yeah!**

**What's your favorite part?**

**ahhhh I'm not sure**

**it's all so good**

**maybe the one scene at the café??**

**That's my favorite scene!**

**@maiaroberts drew it, and it's so pretty!**

**that's so good!!!!!!!**

 

×××

 

Alec could normally talk to Magnus fine, but he always felt so awkward when the conversation turned to his novels. He'd literally MADE the account to talk about them, but he wasn't sure how to act.

 

Excited about them, like his fans? What if once he revealed himself, they thought he was entitled?

 

Apathetic? What if they got upset that he didn't like them, or something?

 

When he was making posts it was fine because he typically stuck to crazy, outlandish theories about himself or his books. He never said any opinions about them.

 

One time he'd made a post about how the A.G. in his name stood for AlliGator, and his internet friends had all found it funny. They all knew that it was a crack post.

 

He'd even changed his username to @alligatorlightwood.

 

But he never specified what he thought about his books or himself. He just made things he thought were funny.

 

He was worried that somebody would get angry with him, or that he'd lose a friend. He had no idea how these people that he'd known for such a short time had already become so close to him.

 

He could talk about himself, but he never made any opinions about himself. He asked other people what they thought about him, sure, but he never joined in on the conversation past listening to what they had to say and starting it.

 

×××

 

Magnus shakily uploaded the 15 minute long video that he had spent all afternoon editing—well, from 5 to 8, but that was the same thing.

 

Immediately, comments started piling up. Before he started reading them, he posted a link to the video on his Instagram and Twitter.

 

**oh my god you read these too???**

 

**@rainingglitter he's going to see this you don't need to sound so thirsty—**

**what do you mean?**

**aglightwood literally follows rg on instagram and twitter lol. i wouldn't be surprised if he was subscribed, too.**

 

Magnus nearly dropped his laptop when he read that comment thread. He'd completely forgotten that AGL followed him back. There was the possibility that he didn't look at his videos that often, but… how could Magnus have forgotten?

 

**@alligatorlightwood**

**alexander???**

**I'm a mess.**

**What do you mean?**

**i was just looking at the comments on rg's recent video**

**and somebody mentioned the fact that agl follows him**

**and**

**i completely forgot???**

**Wait—he has a new video???**

**yeah! he just posted it like 20 mins ago**

**...Brb.**

 

Magnus had to smile at that—he knew that Alec was probably chastising himself for not noticing. It was heartwarming that his best friend loved his videos that much.

 

**@alligatorlightwood**

**By the angel—**

**He made a video review on agl's new book??**

**I can't breathe—**

**this is the most excited I've seen you lol**

**RG IS JUST???**

**HE'S BASICALLY FLIRTING WITH HIM—**

**the comment that i saw pointed that out**

 

He couldn't read Alec's reaction through the DMs—he was definitely shocked, but Magnus couldn't tell if it was in a good or bad way.

 

He was praying that if AGL saw his video it wouldn't make him feel awkward.

 

He knew that AGL had a ton of people think he was attractive—he occasionally posted photos of himself, and his brain was incredible. But somebody that he followed, yet didn't know, thirsting over him? What if he unfollowed him?

 

**@alligatorlightwood**

**wait do you think that made agl uncomfy???**

**No?**

**Why would it?**

**idk it's just like**

**somebody he's never met is just like**

**you know?**

**Ohh.**

**Nah, it's probably fine.**

**I mean a lot of people do that.**

**true**

**that doesn't really make it any better, though**

**It's definitely okay.**

 

×××

 

Alec stared at his computer screen in shock. Not only did @rainingglitter make a video reviewing his book (and saying that it was the best one yet!!!), but he was basically flirting with Alec the whole time.

 

Alec's phone beeped, and he almost dropped it in shock.

 

It was a Twitter notification saying that @rainingglitter had tweeted.

 

**If you saw my recent video, you know that I'm too bi to function. If you didn't see it, that's why.**

 

What on Earth did _that_ mean?

 

**Anyway, the video was a review on @aglightwood's newest book, please go read it, it's incredible.**

 

Alec skimmed the replies and felt his heart jump out of his chest.

 

**Noooooo why'd you delete it?!?**

 

**Where'd the video go???**

 

So _that_ was what @rainingglitter had meant. He fumbled with his phone for a second, then created a new tweet.

 

**TFW your favorite YouTuber makes a really sweet review on your book then deletes it :/**

 

After posting it, Alec basically chucked his phone across the room and buried his face in his pillow.

 

×××

 

**@alligatorlightwood**

**did you see agl's tweet???**

**Yes.**

**rg is his fav youtuber???**

**Yeah, he's said that before.**

**He's literally the only YouTuber that AGL follows.**

**yes but???**

**that's insane**

**oh my god**

**I just can't believe that RG reviewed his book.**

**and he thought the weird video was sweet???**

**It was sweet.**

 

Magnus was shaking—AGL had seen the video before he'd deleted it, and he hadn't found it inappropriate. He'd _liked_ it.

 

He facepalmed for a minute, thinking, then re-uploaded the video.

 

**Sorry about that! The video is back up :)**

 

Replies blew up his phone within seconds, mostly people screaming in joy that it was reuploaded. He looked back at his main feed and nearly dropped his phone.

 

**!!! :-)**

 

AGL had replied to his tweet. Heart racing, Magnus liked the tweet.

 

He was about to set his phone back down when he got an alert from Alexander.

 

**@alligatorlightwood**

**Speaking of—well, sort of—who do you ship AGL with, if anybody?**

 

Magnus wasn't quite sure how to reply to that. Somehow, they'd never talked about this before—he had with other people, but never with Alexander. Could he say himself? Would that be too weird once he told people who he was? It wasn't like it was that much of a secret that he had a crush on AGL, but what if Alexander somehow got the wrong impression?

 

When he asked people who they shipped him with and they replied AGL, he always replied 'same' or 'mood'. But that was the other person initiating the ship.

 

It wasn't like he even actually _knew_ AGL. He didn't even know his first name, just what his face looked like and his last name, which could be a pseudonym.

 

But it was a celebrity crush, if it could be called that. It wouldn't be too weird to say himself, would it? A ton of their fanbase shipped them despite the fact that they hadn't really interacted.

 

**@alligatorlightwood**

**tbh i kinda ship him with RG**

**Same.**

**Oh my God; he put the video back up!**

 

Magnus breathed a sigh of relief, then let a small smile cross over his face.

 

So why did it hurt seeing Alexander's positive reaction?

 

×××

 

When Alec opened the DMs on his fan account, he almost dropped his phone. He never had his notifications on for this account in case he was in public, since people recognized his face.

 

**hi**

 

Alec clicked on the dm and felt several different emotions go through his head.

 

From the list of his dms, it had looked like @rainingglitter had DM'd him, but somehow it was @maiaroberts.

 

**@rainingglitter**

**Maia, what on Earth?**

**How did you do this?**

 

He looked at the details of the group chat, and it was just him and @rainingglitter.

 

**@maiaroberts**

**Maia?**

**How on Earth—and why on Earth—did you do that?**

**;)**

**Maia, seriously.**

**What did you just do?**

**¯\\_(ツ)_/¯**

 

Alec sighed in confusion and set his phone down. He really needed to have better friends—he was going to have a heart attack one day.

 

**@makeitrainglitter**

**Magnus?**

**Why do all of my friends hate me?**

 

He included a screenshot of his DMs and of the conversation itself.

 

**@makeitrainglitter**

**Maia is going to give me heart failure.**

**wdym?**

**oh—**

**I have no idea how she did that.**

 

Magnus didn't say anything past that, so Alec backed out of the conversation, almost dropping his phone again when he saw his other recent conversations.

 

**@rainingglitter**

**hi! :-)**

 

The DM _said_ that it was from @rainingglitter, but it could have been from Maia again, however she'd done it—

 

Nope, it was actually from RG. Abort, abort.

 

**@rainingglitter**

**.**

**i**

**i didn't expect you to reply**

**I'm so sorry for bothering you**

**my friend was pranking me**

**it's fine alexander :-)**

 

How on Earth did RG know his name? Sure, it said Alec in his bio, but why would he be looking at Alec's bio? Why would he even be replying to Alec's DM when he had millions of followers on this account?

 

**@rainingglitter**

**one second**

**i just**

**one second**

 

Alec opened up his DMs with Magnus.

 

**@makeitrainglitter**

**Magnus?**

**Can you help me with something?**

**I'm low-key panicking.**

**are you okay???**

**He replied.**

**I—**

**He replied.**

**What do I do.**

**say something lol**

**Okay.**

**Like what?**

**idk!!**

 

Alec took a deep breath and opened the conversation with @rainingglitter.

 

**@rainingglitter**

**okay!**

**Out of curiosity, why did you choose to reply to this?**

**Like, I'm super grateful, but you have to have at least a thousand requests.**

**truthfully?**

**you're one of my favorite accounts and i found you through a different one i made.**

**Wait—really?**

 

There was no way on Earth that Alec had read that correctly. There was no way on Earth that @rainingglitter liked his ridiculous trolling account.

 

×××

 

"Okay, so, I was going to continue to troll people longer than this, but a perfect opportunity just came up. Somehow somebody pranked one of the people that I've been pranking into thinking that I DM'd them. As in, my main account, which is what I'm using this second. I'm not quite sure how they did it considering the fact that they aren't even in the group chat anymore, but this is perfect."

 

Magnus opened his DMs. "This person is actually one of my closest friends right now, and I met them through this account, which was the exact purpose of this prank. Strictly speaking, they're an AGL fan account, but they're still one of my fans."

 

Magnus pulled up his DMs so that the conversation was visible on-screen. He scrolled up to the top, reading the DMs, then made his way back down to the most recent DMs.

 

**@alligatorlightwood**

**yes, really**

**Okay, but how did you know that I DM'd you? You'd still have a ton of notifications drowning this out.**

 

Magnus laughed.

 

**@alligatorlightwood**

**you told me that maia pranked you**

**Wait.**

**What?**

**But I only told—**

 

"Oh my God. I feel kind of bad for pranking him, and he's kind of in a state of shock right now, but this is hilarious. There's no way that he can disagree with me."

 

**@alligatorlightwood**

**Magnus?**

***finger guns***

**hey, this is izzy**

**i think you broke alec**

**the funny thing is thsdhak**

**Ignore that!**

**She stole my phone :)**

**no, i agree with her**

**you were typing in all lower case earlier**

**… No, I wasn't.**

 

Magnus had to stifle a laugh at that, and clarified for his viewers: "He never types in lower case letters and always has impeccable grammar."

 

**@alligatorlightwood**

**what's the funny thing that she was talking about?**

**Nothing.**

**She was kidding.**

**he's too awkward to tell you**

**but the last few months have been him trolling YOU**

**IGNORE THAT.**

**SHE STOLE MY PHONE AGAIN.**

**wdym you've been trolling me?**

 

**@alligatorlightwood has started a video call.**

Magnus nearly dropped his phone in shock, then picked it up.

 

"Hey, Magnus! Alec's too much of a coward to follow through with his prank, but this should clarify what it was. Also, I've known about this whole situation for…three months, now? Clary and I were talking about it, and we both found it hilarious."

 

Magnus wasn't all too surprised to see Alec's sister on the video call. He'd seen photos of her before, so he could easily recognize her. She flipped the camera before he could reply.

 

"He's currently deceased, but here."

 

Alec was laying on the floor, defeated. Only, Alec was A. G. Lightwood.

 

"Oh, my God." Magnus said.

 

Izzy started laughing. "Magnus Bane, meet my brother, Alexander Gideon Lightwood."

 

_"Oh, my God."_

 

"Also, we live in Manhattan, so if you two want to meet up, that's on the table."

 

"Izzy?" Alec asked. "I hate you, sometimes."

 

She snorted and handed him his phone back.

 

×××

 

Magnus paced his foyer anxiously. Alexander was supposed to come over in four minutes—they had decided to shoot the remainder of their videos together since they were both pranking people in the same way. Magnus was going to post all of them except for Alec's perspective from before they realized who they were DMing, which would be linked in the description.

 

Their processes of finding fan accounts was similar, their audience overlapped for the most part, and, of course, they were dying to meet each other.

 

He checked his hair and make-up in the mirror, then glanced out of the window. His apartment was on the third floor, so he could see people walk up the sidewalk to the lobby door.

 

He could believe that he was meeting his—one of his internet friends. He'd never expected for the troll to come this far, to last more than a couple days. He _definitely_ hadn't expected his internet best friend to be his favorite author, doing the same exact thing he had been.

 

He must have missed Alexander, though, because the next thing he knew, his buzzer was ringing.

 

"Hey—um, it's Alec."

 

"Come on up!" Magnus replied, hoping that his voice didn't sound shaky.

 

There was a light knock on his door a couple seconds later, and Magnus opened it to a slightly red in the face Alexander.

 

Magnus' breath caught in his lungs.

 

"Hi," he said, running on autopilot. "You can put your coat here, if you want. If you want to take your shoes off you can set them there, but it doesn't matter."

 

"Okay." Alec said, taking his jacket and shoes off, nearly bumping into Magnus in the process. "Um, how are you?"

 

"Good. Did you want anything to eat or drink?"

 

"Yeah, sure. What do you have?"

 

×××

 

Magnus had led him to the couch before going into the kitchen to get them drinks. Alec wasn't quite sure what to think. On one hand, he was sitting in his best friend/crush's living room. On the other hand, he was sitting on the couch of his favorite YouTuber.

 

His favorite YouTuber, who had basically admitted to being in love with Alec. Sure, he'd said it about _A. G. Lightwood,_ not _Alexander,_ but… they were the same person, right? But what if him being… him… removed Magnus' crush? What if he'd been kidding? Like, yeah, he felt awkward enough to delete the video, but still.

 

Magnus came back into the room with two drinks balanced in one hand and a bowl of Hershey's Kisses in the other.

 

"I already did the intro, but we'll probably have to do something to bring you into the video. Can you screen record on your phone?"

 

"Yeah. Did you want to do people that we both follow first?"

 

"Sure."

 

Magnus set up his camera to record, sat down next to Alec, then the two of them prepared their phones.

 

"Okay, so, as you can see, I have the wonderful A. G. Lightwood with me now!"

 

(They had decided to block Alec's full name out from Magnus' earlier portion of the video, and Magnus was keeping his name a secret—he'd only told it to Alexander and, by extension, Izzy. Alec just went by 'Alec' on his third account, and he was fine with people knowing that part of his name).

 

Alec waved at the camera.

 

"It's kind of hilarious how we both ended up doing this and how we trolled each other, so we decided to come together to record the rest of the video." Magnus continued.

 

Alec held up his phone. "First, we're going to create a group chat with our mutual friend Maia, the one that tried to prank me yesterday."

 

They'd planned out what they were going to say ahead of time, but Alec was still anxious that he was going to mess up.

 

**@maiaroberts, @makeitrainglitter**

**Hey, Maia.**

**hey alec!**

**what's up?**

**oh, hey, makeitrainglitter**

 

**@makeitrainglitter has started a video call.**

Maia picked up immediately.

 

"Hey, Maia!" Magnus and Alec said at the same time.

 

"Oh, hey." She replied, only freezing for about half a second before talking. "What's up?"

 

The entire time that Maia was on the call with them, she remained calm and didn't freak out or fangirl at all. Alec probably should have guessed it based off of how she typed—always calm unless she was laughing at somebody, or extremely psyched—but he was still surprised.

 

"Well that was uneventful." Magnus sighed, taking a sip of his cocktail. "Kiss?"

 

"What?" Alec replied, flustered. Magnus help up his hand, which had a Hershey's Kiss in it. Of course he'd meant the candy, what else would he have meant? "Oh, yeah, sure. Who did you want to tell next?"

 

The responses of the people on the other end of the call were insane—they ranged from being shocked into silence to squealing in excitement to rambling.

 

By the time that they'd called all of their mutuals, six hours had passed already. Magnus was on his fifth cocktail; Alec had swapped to beer after his first drink and was on his third drink. The bowl of Hershey's Kisses was empty other than the trash and two more pieces of chocolate.

 

Magnus turned the camera off, and they downloaded the screen recordings onto his computer. It was 10pm—they'd taken a break to eat dinner—but it felt much later.

 

"Did you want to watch anything?" Magnus asked, reaching for the remote. It was probably late enough that Alec should have been headed home, but neither of them wanted to leave. It was late, they were tired, and they were comfortable.

 

"Sure. What's on?"

 

"There's Brooklyn Nine Nine, if you want to watch that."

 

"Sure," Alec said, leaning against Magnus. He tensed for a second—he hadn't really _meant_ to lean against him—then relaxed after realizing that Magnus was fine with it.

 

Alec was just about to fall asleep when he realized something. "Hey, Magnus?"

 

Magnus hummed in acknowledgement.

 

"Do you remember that time that I asked you who you shipped me with?"

 

Magnus tensed up, and Alec couldn't feel the rise and fall of his body as he breathed.

 

"Because same." Alec finished, giggling slightly from the alcohol. He felt Magnus relax a bit, and they watched the show in companionable silence. After several episodes, Alec felt his eyelids grow heavy. Right before he fell asleep, he could have sworn that he felt Magnus' ringed fingers in his hair.

 

×××

 

Magnus woke up to a heavy weight on his chest. He blinked open his eyes and remembered that Alexander had fallen asleep on him—and, honestly, he looked too peaceful for Magnus to wake him up. He was only sort of regretting that they'd slept on the couch now, considering how sore his back was.

 

He gently moved Alec from his lap and got up. He walked into the kitchen to start making breakfast, then changed his mind.

 

His skin felt disgusting because he hadn't taken off his make-up before falling asleep—he'd been so comfortable, and hadn't had the energy—or wanted to disturb Alexander. He set down the waffle iron that he'd grabbed and went to the bathroom, then wiped it off and put on some light eyeshadow.

 

The whole time that he was getting ready, his mind was racing. Had Alexander meant what he'd said last night? Had he assumed that Magnus had been joking and joked in response?

 

He sighed and cleaned up his make-up. There was no point in stressing over it—he'd either bring it up again if he was serious, or he wouldn't ever say anything and that would be that.

 

If Magnus brought it up and he'd been kidding, it could ruin their entire friendship.

 

When he walked back into the living room, Alec was awake and talking quietly on the phone. He had a slight bedhead. He brightened up when he saw Magnus.

 

"Love you, bye."

 

At Magnus' questioning eyebrow, he told him that Izzy had been worried. Guilt filled Magnus until Alec added, "It's karma, though. She doesn't even tell me when she's going out and doesn't come back until noon the next day."

 

"Ah. Did you want breakfast? I was going to make waffles."

 

×××

 

The waffles tasted heavenly. He wasn't sure if it was because Magnus had made them or if it was the recipe, but they were really good. He'd tried to help, but decided that his sister wasn't the only Lightwood that could do a lot better in the kitchen.

 

That may have been because he kept getting distracted by Magnus humming, but who was to say?

 

"Did you want to record the rest of the video today? I was thinking that there could be three parts for the reveal—the first would be our mutuals, and then the last two would be people that only one of us followed."

 

"Sure. I'd probably need to change, though. My hair is a mess, too."

 

"I'd offer to let you borrow something of mine, but I don't think that you'd want to wear anything I own."

 

"Yeah, it's fine. I'll just head home for a bit to get ready and then come back."

 

×××

 

"So?" Izzy prompted as soon as Alec walked in the door. "How was Magnus'?"

 

"Good," Alec replied. "I'm about to shower and then I'll head back over so we can finish filming."

 

"... That's all you're going to say?"

 

"What else would I say? We recorded for a bit and then watched Brooklyn Nine Nine. Did you want a play-by-play of the episodes?" Alex turned away from Izzy and went to get ready.

 

His heart was pounding, but he didn't want to— _couldn't_ —say what else had happened. He'd basically confessed to being in love with Magnus, and hadn't gotten a reply. Even bringing it up had made him uncomfortable—the fact that he had been drunk was no excuse.

 

He sighed and stepped into the shower. Magnus hadn't mentioned it in the morning, but he definitely hadn't kicked Alec out of his apartment, either, so it may not have bothered him too much.

 

**@makeitrainglitter**

**Did you want me to bring anything?**

**no, it's fine**

**actually**

**considering how long it took us to film the first part, you might want to bring a change of clothes/toothbrush???**

**you don't have to but if you want to you can**

**Okay.**

 

Alec had stared at his phone for five minutes trying to double check that he'd read it correctly, then grabbed some stuff—adding some popcorn for good measure.

 

When he got back to Magnus' apartment, there was music playing. He'd told Alec to just come on up and that the door would be unlocked.

 

Magnus was dancing with his back to him, and Alec's throat went dry.

 

"I'm back," Alec announced once he regained his voice.

 

Magnus whirled around to face him. He was wearing a black tank top that said "No Homo (Full Bi)" in glittery letters. "Alexander! You're back."

 

"Yeah! Also—I know you said that I didn't need to bring anything—but I brought some popcorn. Since we're doing this at your house and you provided snacks yesterday and made breakfast."

 

Magnus' face lit up. "Thank you, Alexander."

 

×××

 

Alexander was basically laying on Magnus so that they could both see his phone screen.

 

**@warofhearts**

**Hey!**

**hey! what's up?**

**Can I tell you something?**

 

"You aren't even trolling them at this point!" Magnus exclaimed. "'Can I tell you something?' is so boring! At least make them work for it, darling."

 

"Just wait and see," Alec replied, grinning.

 

**@warofhearts**

**sure?**

**I made a quiz!**

**rly?? that's so cool!!**

**what's it called?**

 

Alec pasted a link into the conversation.

 

"Did you actually make that?" Magnus asked, amused.

 

"Yeah. It's a "how well do you know me" quiz, except the questions are all things that I've only told people from this account."

 

Magnus laughed, then glanced back at Alec's phone.

 

**@warofhearts**

**how do you even know that stuff about him??**

**he's never said it**

 

**@alligatorlightwood has started a video call.**

He had to wait four seconds before @warofhearts picked up, and they almost immediately disconnected.

 

**@warofhearts**

**h ol y cr a p**

**I'm sorry i hung up i was shocked and dropped my phone**

**oh my god ive been so annoying to you**

**im so sorry**

**No, it's fine.**

**You haven't been annoying.**

**I've liked talking to you.**

**If you want I could call back…?**

**maybe later; my mom just got home**

**if that's fine**

**Okay!**

 

"Mood," Magnus muttered softly. "Was that the last person that you've spoken to on that account?"

 

"I think so," Alec replied. "That means that it's your turn, now."

 

"Okay. Did you want to hold my phone or did you want to move so that we're in a different position?" Magnus didn't want to move, but it was impractical for them to be sitting like this if Magnus was the one DMing people.

 

There was a beat of silence, then, "I'm fine with either."

 

"Okay, just let me type in my passwordb first. I don't feel like moving." Magnus was certain that Alexander could feel his heartbeat with how loudly it was pounding in his chest.

 

He pulled his phone closer to him so that Alexander couldn't see it, and typed in his password. It was the title of one of his books, and even though Magnus knew that he would appreciate the thought, he didn't want to make him uncomfortable.

 

He also had to change his phone's wallpaper really quickly.

 

"Okay, here." Magnus handed him his phone once he'd gone to the DM section of Instagram.

 

"Who did you want to tell first?" Alec asked, tilting his head to glance at Magnus.

 

"I guess we could go down the list? I think I had a paper on the coffee table that had a list of the rest of the people that I needed to DM. I made my account private, so that number shouldn't have changed at all, unless it went down."

 

Alec grabbed the paper off of the coffee table, then relaxed against Magnus again. "Okay… this says @glitterbae is first." His voice sounded strained, like he was trying to hold back laughter. "Why are all of your followers so good at coming up with usernames? This is literally the best thing I've ever seen."

 

Alec opened a conversation with @glitterbae, then hesitated. "What do you want to say?"

 

"Oh… I'm not sure. I guess ask them which of my videos is their favorite?"

 

**@glitterbae**

**hey!!**

**which of rg's vids is your fav?**

 

"How's that?"

 

"It's good," Magnus replied, a small smile crossing over his face at seeing Alec replicate his typing style.

 

**@glitterbae**

**I'm not sure**

**All of his vids are so good!!**

**Maybe that time that he played Clue with Ragnor and Catarina???**

**Ahh it's so hard to choose >•<**

**what about his next one?**

**… What?**

**well i mean youre going to be in it**

**???**

 

"Um—so did you want me to video call them now?"

 

They'd shifted so that Alec was squashed in between Magnus and the couch instead of basically on top of him, but Alec was still holding Magnus' phone.

 

**@glitterbae**

 

**@makeitrainglitter has started a video call**

 

**Ahhh I'm sorry I'm not allowed :///**

**oh, okay!**

 

"That's a shame," Magnus sighed. "That person is always really sweet."

 

×××

 

By the time that they finished, it was time for dinner. "I can't believe this takes so much time," Alec laughed. "Like, it doesn't feel like any time has passed."

 

"This was really fun," Magnus agreed. "What did you want to do for dinner?"

 

"There's this one restaurant that I've been meaning to try for a while? We could try that out?"

 

Magnus agreed under the condition that he get changed first. He didn't deem his outfit nice enough to go out to eat at a restaurant since it was just a tank top.

 

When he came back out of his room—with black eyeliner with impeccable wings, eyeshadow and lipstick that looked like it was made out of liquid gold, and an earring on the helix of his ear—Alec had to force himself to look away.

 

"I'm ready!" Magnus announced, smiling at Alec. He cleared his throat and pulled out his phone in response, trying to pull up Google Maps.

 

"Okay, uh, it says that it's only a couple blocks away, so we can either walk or…?"

 

"Walking is good with me," Magnus confirmed, grabbing Alec's hand. Alec forced himself not to jump, then followed Magnus out of the apartment.

 

He had to bite his lip to keep himself from smiling like a madman. He wasn't entirely certain that he succeeded.

 

Clary had just exited the stairwell, and her eyes immediately went to their hands, then her phone.

 

Alec was certain that she was texting his sister.

 

×××

 

By the time that they finished eating, neither of them was ready to go. They decided to split a crème brûlée, and Magnus had difficulty ignoring the butterflies in his stomach—so much so that he almost couldn't eat it.

 

He wasn't quite sure what Alexander considered this to be, but he'd let Magnus hold his hand all the way to the restaurant and they were splitting dessert—not to mention the fact that this was a fancier restaurant.

 

Every time they went to grab a spoonful of their dessert, their hands bumped into each other and Magnus could see Alexander's cheeks tinted red.

 

When they finally got the check, Magnus refused to let Alexander pay for it—Alexander had protested, but eventually relented. They decided to walk around after dinner since the sky was still bright—not that that mattered very much considering the fact that they were in the city.

 

Magnus grabbed Alexander's hand and led him around Brooklyn. They didn't realize how long they were out until Alexander glanced up at the sky and realized that the sun was _rising,_ not _setting_.

 

They were pretty far from Magnus' apartment, so they hopped onto the subway. The adrenaline from walking around had blurred the fact that they were both exhausted, so they were basically supporting each other against the pole.

 

Alexander's one arm was wrapped around the pole while his other was wrapped around Magnus' waist. Magnus had his hands resting on the pole and on Alexander's arm.

 

By the time they finally managed to stumble into Magnus' apartment, it was 9AM. Magnus dragged Alexander behind him, then they collapsed onto his bed next to each other.

 

×××

 

Alex woke up to about fifty texts from his sister, several from Clary, and a few from Maia. He couldn't find Magnus immediately, so he decided to check what they said.

 

**Izzy**

**oh my god**

**clary just told me that she saw y'all holding hands ;;;)**

**how's magnus'?**

**holy crap**

**you two are all over my feed**

**my phone is blowing up why did you make me log into your verified account that one time???**

**Clary is a snitch.**

**It's good! We finished recording everything so we went out to dinner.**

**What do you mean?**

 

**Clary Fairchild**

**you might want to check your instagram**

**everything blowing up rn**

**What do you mean?**

 

**@maiaroberts**

**holy crap!!**

**alec you might want to check your feed/mentions/tags,,,**

**Okay.**

 

Alec finally went to his explore feed and almost dropped his phone in shock. Apparently somebody had posted a photo of them on the subway, and everybody was going crazy. Most of the people that he followed weren't saying anything because they already knew that him and Magnus were hanging out, but this was news to the rest of the internet.

 

Alec sighed and set his phone down, then rolled off of the bed in search for Magnus. He wasn't anywhere in the apartment, but there was a small note on the table— _I had to run a few errands since I'm running low on food, but feel free to do whatever while you're waiting for me. If you need to shower, the towels are in the closet that's inside the bathroom. You have to pull the knob out to turn the water on, and then it's basic hot/cold functions._

_-Magnus_

 

It was signed with a flourish that made a smile appear on Alec's face. Then, he saw a small post scriptum— _I don't normally have my data turned on when I'm away from home, so here's my phone number._

 

Alec saved the number in his phone, then texted Magnus— **Hey! It's me** —and got into the shower.

 

Thankfully he didn't smell bad, but his muscles were sore from walking around for hours and then sleeping in a weird position for the second night in a row.

 

When he got out of the shower, he checked his phone to see if there was a reply from Magnus, but, instead of a reply, he was greeted with a text from an unknown number.

**XXX-XXX-XXXX**

**Alexander Gideon Lightwood, what the Hell is this?**

(attached image: the photo that somebody had taken of him and Magnus on the subway last night)

**Why the Hell aren't you answering me?**

**I'm sorry, who is this?**

Alec replied to the text, even though he was almost certain of who had texted him. Only three people in the world called him Alexander, and it obviously wasn't Magnus.

 

His father had completely cut him out of his life, disagreeing with his "lifestyle choices" (like he could _control_ his sexuality, or something).

 

When he got the response confirming his fears— **What the Hell do you mean, "Who is this"? It's your mother—don't tell me you deleted my contact** —he dropped his phone in a panic. How had she found him? He was an adult now, and he'd changed his number to get _away_ from her.

 

Shaking, he picked his phone back up and dialed his sister's number.

 

"Hey, Alec. How are you dealing with everything?" Her voice was teasing.

 

"Hi," he replied, and could immediately tell the difference in his sister's demeanor even though she didn't say anything. "Um, Mom found my number somehow."

 

Izzy waited a second, then asked, "Do you need anything?"

 

"No, I think—I think I'm going to block her. I just don't know how she got my number. And she kind of—I'll just send you screenshots." Alec heard the door to Magnus' apartment open. "I'm going to go, I just thought you ought to know. Um, see you later. Love you, Izzy."

 

Magnus knocked on the door, and Alec hastily started changing. "One second."

 

When he opened the door, he was still in a mild state of shock, and his heart was pounding erratically in his ears.

 

"Are you okay, Alexander?" Magnus asked, studying his face. He reached out, then hesitated.

 

Alec sighed and put his stuff back on the counter. "Yeah, it's just that—well, um—" Alec unlocked his phone, opened the texts with his mom, and handed it to Magnus. He brushed past him and sat on the corner of the bed.

 

"I just—" Alec's voice broke. "I haven't spoken to her in years, and she comes after me now? I don't even know how she got my number. I got a new one as soon as I left."

 

Magnus gently set Alec's phone down on the nightstand and sat next to him. "Can I help at all?"

 

"No, I'll be fine. I should probably block her now, though. Um, do you know how? I've never had to block anybody before."

 

×××

 

To say Magnus was worried would be an understatement. He didn't know everything about Alexander, but he knew that his first book was just a metaphor on his life at that point—and he'd cried almost the entire time that he'd read it.

 

He knew Alexander could get by on his own, but that didn't mean he should have to. His mental health wasn't what Magnus was worried about, though. He knew that the words that he had read hadn't hurt as much as the fact that his mother had somehow gotten his number.

 

Where had she gotten it? How much information could she find? How much information could other people find?

 

"Magnus?" Alexander's voice drew him from his reverie. They'd sat down on the couch to watch B99 and get their thoughts elsewhere, but Magnus couldn't stop worrying. "Thank you."

 

"For what?" He hadn't done anything that any decent human being wouldn't do.

 

"Just—thank you."

 

×××

 

After lunch, Alec sighed and checked his phone. He had a few texts from Izzy—some of which were certain emojis, others of which were reminders that they needed to talk about their mom.

 

"I should probably leave soon."

 

Magnus looked up, startled, then seemed to realize how long they'd been hanging out. It'd been almost three full days. "Okay. Did you need help gathering your stuff?"

 

"I think I'm fine," Alec said, but he didn't move from his spot next to Magnus for several seconds. When he did move to get up, he glanced at Magnus' face and realized how close they were. He froze, breath caught in his throat.

 

Magnus was looking right back at him, and his eyes flicked down towards Alec's lips, then back towards his eyes.

 

"Can I…?" Alec asked. Magnus replied by leaning forwards and pressing his lips to Alec's.

 

Alec moved one of his hands to rest against Magnus' face, and felt Magnus' ringed hand gently rest on his neck. It probably would have been a good kiss, but neither of them could stop smiling.

 

Alec pulled back and met Magnus' eyes, grinning. "That was…"

 

Magnus laughed. "I guess we just need to practice."

 

"I guess so," Alec replied, completely forgetting about the fact that, oh yeah, he should probably be leaving around now. "So… do you want to practice now?"

 

"I'd love to." Magnus replied, and leaned forwards.

**Author's Note:**

> This took me ages and I almost fell asleep while trying to finish it last night.
> 
> Also: sorry for the tiny bit of angst, I had no idea where the plot was going and I was in a bad mood lol.


End file.
